March 31: Alex Koo, Mark Turner & Ralph Alessi

DATE: Friday, March 31TIME: 7:30 P.M.TICKETS: $15 ($12 FOR STUDENTS AND SENIORS)

For this double-bill, virtuoso trumpeter Ralph Alessi opens with a rare solo set. Then up-and-coming pianist Alex Koo Derudder, a native of Belgium, teams with Alessi and the ever-absorbing saxophonist Mark Turner for a cross-generational chamber-jazz trio. Alex has studied with some of the best – Brad Mehldau, Kenny Werner, Barry Harris – and came to the U.S. from Amsterdam on a Fulbright Scholarship. Mark and Ralph, both ECM recording artists, are two of today’s most influential players on their respective instruments.

About Ralph, DownBeat said: “Alessi works between the notes, his thoughtful, conversational solos as meditative as a calligrapher’s art, each line free-flowing and declarative but with immaculate shape and beauty.”

And about Turner, NPR said: “He has an innovative sonic signature – a certain floating chromaticism, rhythmic mindfulness and lightness of tone, filled with subtleties. Basically, his music has personality, which keeps the best musicians ringing his phone, and the aspiring ones listening hard.”